Arkansas: Convicted rapist, amputee, 86, asks for release; Parole board member estimates state spends $450 a day on elderly inmate

By Nomaan Merchant Associated Press PINE BLUFF, Ark. (AP) -- After more than four decades in prison, a convicted rapist confined to a wheelchair is no longer considered a threat. But despite one estimate that releasing Phillip Henson Sr. could save the state as much as $160,000 a year, it's unlikely Arkansas' oldest inmate will leave the prison system. A judge sentenced Henson to life in prison in 1966. The inmate, now 86, lost his left leg to gangrene years ago; his hands shake as he sorts through paperwork he hopes will someday lead to his release from a prison hospital. Many states, including Arkansas, have explored the release of inmates no longer deemed dangerous, particularly given the high costs of keeping them locked up. But Gov. Mike Beebe has consistently declined to let inmates like Henson out of prison. Beebe has granted just one early release during his tenure, to a man convicted of aggravated robbery, spokesman Matt DeCample said. He's issued about 400 pardons to people already out of prison. DeCample says Beebe believes in giving people "second chances" once they've served their sentences, but is more reticent about reducing prison time. "That's the decision that the jury or the judge made," DeCample said. "It's not something that he's really taken to apply his personal interpretation of." Arkansas has seen its elderly inmate population skyrocket. Last year, the state system held three times as many inmates over the age of 55 as it did a decade earlier. In recommending Henson's release, one parole board member wrote that Henson "can't hurt anybody else." Another member, Joe Peacock, said he felt Henson wasn't dangerous and didn't need to be kept in prison at such a high cost. Peacock said he was told keeping Henson locked up costs $450 a day -- which adds up to more than $160,000 a year. A Department of Correction spokeswoman did not confirm that amount, saying that the department relies on a contractor to cover inmates' medical costs. Peacock said he considered a number of things before voting in favor of Henson's release. "His age, his health, and the fact that he was costing the taxpayers money," Peacock said. "When it goes up to $450 a day, all of those factors go into it." Nationally, the American Civil Liberties Union estimates that elderly prisoners are the fastest growing segment of the national prison population, largely due to sentencing laws. "Part of it is that sentences have gotten longer," said state Department of Correction spokeswoman Dina Tyler. "And part of it is the fact that many of these offenders return to their old ways, often times because of substance abuse." In a prison interview with The Associated Press, Henson admitted to having sex with the woman in Yell County, but said it was consensual. The woman declined to be interviewed. The AP only identifies rape victims who agree to speak publicly. According to Henson and court documents, the woman was an aspiring singer who performed in a talent show, winning first place and a chance at a recording contract. Henson, who owned a Russellville music store, arranged to have the woman meet with partners in the company that planned to discuss a contract with her. A 1965 state Supreme Court opinion said, according to the woman, "he later stopped on a side road, slapped and choked her, pinned her arms behind her, and then proceeded to rape her." The Supreme Court overturned Henson's first conviction, in 1964, because it said the testimony of two other women who accused Henson of rape at other times shouldn't have been allowed during the trial. Henson was then found guilty again after a second trial in 1966, and sentenced to life in prison. Henson now lives in a prison hospital in Pine Bluff and is learning to use a prosthetic leg. The Department of Correction says he's received one reprimand during his time in prison. Henson says prison saved his life and forced him to kick addictions to cocaine and heroin. "I was drug-infested at the time," he said. "I have done a complete inventory of self. I know where I was wrong, when I was wrong, and now, why I was wrong," he said. Among his clemency paperwork, Henson keeps letters of support from family and certificates of achievement for completing prison programs. He also keeps a photo of his fifth wife, Marvis Henson, whom he married while he was in prison. Laurent Sacharoff, a University of Arkansas law professor and a former public defender, said there were several reasons to consider inmates like Henson for release. "He certainly has been punished," Sacharoff said. "He's unlikely to do it again, and on the other side, there's the cost to society of keeping him in prison. "The argument that he hasn't paid his price isn't a very strong one," he said. But other governors have faced scrutiny when released prisoners later committed serious crimes. Beebe's predecessor, Mike Huckabee, had a role in pardoning or commuting the sentences of more than 1,000 prisoners. One former prisoner, convicted rapist Wayne DuMond, later murdered a woman after being paroled. Police said another one-time Arkansas inmate, Maurice Clemmons, shot and killed four Seattle-area police officers nine years after Huckabee made him eligible for parole. Clemmons died in a shootout with police days later. DeCample said Beebe makes his clemency decisions primarily based on "time and personal philosophy." When asked about Huckabee's record, he said, "You can't ignore things like that." Published: Tue, Apr 26, 2011